Tech Data is looking to kick-start hundreds of solution providers into the Internet of Things era through a new program – the Analytics and IoT Solutions Catalog – which boasts 30 market-ready systems and an enablement program to lower the barrier to entry and expedite time to market.

The Lowdown: The Analytics and IoT Solutions Catalog is the latest effort by Tech Data to offer solution providers predefined, prepackaged IoT technologies that address specific use cases in health care, manufacturing, retail, transportation and logistics, and public infrastructure and smart cities. The program leverages Tech Data’s Solutions Factory methodology, which builds comprehensive systems that are tested and validated for market. Microsoft and Intel are supporting the program.

The Details: The initiative includes an enablement program that gives solution providers training and support for building viable IoT and analytics practices. Approximately 200 North American and European solution providers are participating in the program. They’ll undergo a market readiness assessment, participate in strategic development workshops, and receive support in taking their IoT solutions to market.

The Impact: IoT is not a product, but rather a collection of hardware, software, and automated services that work in concert to create systems that automate functions and activities, as well as provide analytics for improving operations and performance. Tech Data’s Analytics and IoT Solutions Catalog is one of several distribution efforts to simplify and accelerate solution provider IoT adoption and go-to-market activities. According to IDC, businesses will invest nearly $800 billion in IoT products and related services in 2019.

The Buzz:“Some of the main challenges in executing analytics and IoT solutions are that they are both often highly customized to solve a specific customer business problem and are complex in nature. The ability to scale is very important in realizing revenue from these solutions,” said Patrick Zammit, president, Europe, and of global analytics and IoT solutions at Tech Data. “With Tech Data’s Solution Catalog and our series of strategy development workshops, we are facilitating repeatable solutions and outcomes for partners to help them quickly enter the analytics and IoT market and generate repeatable sales as they become their clients’ go-to resource for state-of-the-art, industry-specific solutions.”

“Tech Data’s new Solution Catalog and series of workshops are empowering partners by providing the knowledge, tools, and resources they need to help customers identify and deploy repeatable IoT and analytics solutions,” said Nicole Denil, general manager of IoT Sales at Microsoft. “Partners who take advantage of these vetted solutions and in-depth training will be better able to help customers drive business transformation and expedite time to value.”

“We are excited to sponsor this program with Tech Data, with the goal of championing analytics and IoT solution-selling into the marketplace,” said Rod O’Shea, global partner director, IoT, at Intel. “We believe that Tech Data’s Practice Builder program and workshops will put resellers and system integrators in a better position to build profitable and sustainable analytics and IoT practices.”